Bizarre 999 calls include request to arrest noisy seagulls

Police Scotland release some of the strangest calls, including a request for
assistance with a fox in a garden, in a bid to deter time-wasters

Photo: Getty Images

By Agencies

5:45PM BST 04 Apr 2014

A man who wanted two seagulls charged with a breach of the peace, a woman who was scared of foxes and a Christmas cook who wanted to know how long his turkey would take were some of the strange emergency calls received by police in the last year.

Police Scotland used their Twitter feed today to highlight some of the bizarre calls and encourage people to make use of the non-emergency 101 number, which has been operational for the last year.

The force said it used to have more than 350 phone numbers the public could use to report incidents but it now uses only 999 and 101. There were 520,000 emergency calls last year, but the number is still being used inappropriately, it said.

One example the force highlighted was of a man who dialled 999 and said: ''Hi, there's two seagulls outside my house, they'll no shut up. (sic)''

When he was told police could not help him, he said: ''Aye they can, I want them done with a breach of the peace.''

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In another call, a woman told the operator: ''It's my garden, there's a fox in it.''

She was told it was not a police matter and officers would not be sent, and she replied: ''But they need to 'cos I'm feart of dugs. (sic)''

Another caller used 999 to tell police her laptop was broken and asked for a lift to the shops to buy a new one, while on Christmas Day the number was used by someone who asked: ''How long does it take to cook turkey?''

To round up the tweets, the force said: ''These 999 calls may seem humorous but remember they have a serious impact on response times to genuine emergency incidents.

''Our team play a huge role in keeping everyone safe, but these examples of time-wasting 999 calls do not make it any easier.